A Thousand And One Nights
by FRGL 1
Summary: 31 girls, 1001 nights. Reality? Fantasy? Experience it for yourself and decide. Endless pairing options (with some repeats). Hypothetically endless drabble series. Do not read if you are allergic to romance.
1. Unchained P1

The following is rated M for explicit adult situations and may not be suitable for viewers under the age of 16.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real persons or events is unintentional.

The author recommends using 1/2 story width to better enjoy the story.

* * *

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The story elements and characters  
depicted are the property of Ken  
Akamatsu and Kodansha. The  
Author claims no ownership and  
writes with authorization of ffnet.

* * *

**Foreword: **The following story assumes that Negi is immortal and does not physically age. It does not follow UQ Holder continuity.

* * *

_Wanting to be with that person; hold on to your important feelings_

* * *

The evening sky shimmered as brilliant sunlight radiated against gassy mirrors high overhead. A cold wind tore away fluttering threads of heat as it siphoned off the surface of the earth in clumpy pockets.

Negi Springfield knelt before a roughly cut out slab of stone, channelling a fine thread of magical energy through his fingertips as he etched in his last name. Looking on, Evangeline McDowell gazed between the boy working on the slab and the shallow mound of disturbed earth in front of them.

Satisfied with his efforts, Negi dug a pit roughly a meter deep and jammed the base of the slab into it. It was a stone slab no longer, but a grave marker for his mortal father. Then, still kneeling, he shifted himself backwards and lowered his head in a respectful bow. It was, after all, one of the final resting places of his father.

Only one tear had been shed that day, when Negi, on his father Nagi's instruction's, had come to pick up his ashes, neatly collected in a plain, straightforward urn that his father had fashioned himself. The urn, Negi kept, the ashes sent to Mundus Magicus where the politicians would squabble over its placement. Only the urn, with its crude indentations and rough shape, had any worthwhile meaning to him now.

But he kept some of the ashes, and brought them here, secretly, to Mahora Academy. And now, here they were, holding a private burial. Evangeline gazed straight at the ground as Negi stood up and walked to her.

"So, what now?" he said in Japanese.

She looked up, but not at him, and pondered silently.

Negi bowed slightly, took a short breath, then returned alone to Evangeline's cottage.

Evangeline looked over her shoulder at Negi's diminishing figure, holding her hair away from her eyes as it fluttered in the increasing gale. She licked her teeth behind her closed lips and sighed.

Then she went over to the shallow grave to squat before the tombstone. She rested her chin in her palm and tilted her gaze thoughtfully.

"I suppose," she began, in English, "that I should thank you. For dying. Since you remembered to set me free, and all."

She couldn't think of what to say next. She wasn't sure if she needed to say anything at all, and sat there in an awkward, self-imposed silence. As the sky gradually darkened, her eyes fell to the cracks and scratches Negi had left behind. She stared at them, tracing their path with her eyes, running her fingertips along the engraving which bore Nagi's dates of birth and death.

With a gentle, tentative blast of magic, she obliterated his date of death.

"Hmm…"

Evangeline pushed herself up with her hands, feeling the soft blades of grass cushion her palms, poking between her fingertips. She felt the moist, cool earth beneath her, where Nagi now resided, and looked up at the sky where Mars would be. Her lips curled into a smirk. She twisted her neck left and right, cracked her knuckles, and stretched her back.

"Stupid boy…"


	2. Unchained P2

The following is rated M for explicit adult situations and may not be suitable for viewers under the age of 16.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real persons or events is unintentional.

The author recommends using 1/2 story width to better enjoy the story.

* * *

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The story elements and characters  
depicted are the property of Ken  
Akamatsu and Kodansha. The  
Author claims no ownership and  
writes with authorization of ffnet.

* * *

Negi was halfway finished putting away his things when his master, Evangeline, sauntered through the front door. She glanced at the note he'd half-written and set aside on her dining table, then gazed fixedly on Negi.

"Master?" he asked hesitantly, in Japanese.

"Quit it with that aging pill," she answered back in the same.

Negi glanced out the windows to make sure they were alone. While Evangeline combed out her ruffled hair, he undid the illusion and changed into an outfit more suited for combat training. Evangeline glanced at it and smirked.

"We're not going to train?" Negi noticed.

Evangeline shook her head. "No, actually, keep that on… Come." She beckoned for Negi to follow as she ascended into the bedrooms upstairs.

Negi quickly folded his adult clothes and hurried after her, even as she barked at him to move faster.

The sun had completely set, now, with its orange afterglow barely illuminating the poorly lit enclosure. Evangeline stood at the base of the ladder, staring straight at Negi with her arms folded, lips pursed in a contemplating expression.

She reached out and pulled him by the chin, pressing their lips into a chaste kiss. Negi's eyes spun erratically. He tried to pull away, but she just pushed him onto a bed and crossed her arms again. Sighing, she spoke in English.

"You know I'm not using you to replace him right?"

He thought about it for a while. "Nobody can replace my dad. Master is the kind of person who knows better than that." His words were in American English.

Evangeline blushed, ashamed at having her thoughts read so easily by this… child. "You're awfully calm about it."

"What will you do, now that you're free?"

Negi leaned back, as though he knew the answer, inviting her to indulge. Evangeline stepped forward and slapped him, cheeks as red as ever. "Acting all adult with that body of yours… The nerve…!"

He smiled softly. "Aren't you the same, Master?"

She grimaced and pinched the spot where she'd slapped him. "Call me by my name, you damn punk." The way she said it sounded somewhat desperate.

That stopped him. He stumbled visibly over his thoughts, all the while leaning closer and closer to her. She knelt in front of him awkwardly, trembling slightly as she felt his breath on her chest. Slowly, his lips formed her given name.

"...Evangeline."

She stiffened. What role to play? Innocent? Seductive? Obedient? Defiant?

When he blushed, too, the tension spilled over. She pressed her face against his chest, and they fell flat onto the bed, their legs dangling over the side. "Mou~! Don't get all embarrassed now… Baka…!" She peered up at his face shyly. She didn't need to play a role this time, she realized. Her personality was coming out naturally, and that was what was bothering her so much.

"'Mou'...?" he lay loosely beneath her in surrender.

"What, you get confused when I mix languages?"

"No, it's just…" Negi shook his head, seeing that he was just irritating her. "...nothing, nevermind."

Evangeline cupped her hand around Negi's swollen cheek and stroked it… lovingly? Affectionately? ...longingly?

"Are you going to make me do everything?"

Negi didn't answer. He tilted his face around and around, enjoying the feeling of her touch. She grimaced, hooked her hands around his shoulders, and slid her body up along his. When she cradled his head in her hands, he parted his lips for her while wrapping his arms around her waist.

She wriggled closer. "Mm… that tickles a bit…"

He kissed her cheek, surprising her a little. His fingers ran through her long, golden hair, and Evangeline tilted her neck down, pulling those long, wavy strands ever tighter until they knotted around his fingers.

"You can appreciate me even more, now, after all this time, can't you…?"

"Evangeline."

"Negi." She giggled. "Negi. Negi. Your name sounds pretty weird when I think of it in Japanese."

He sat up, unconcerned, pulling her hips into his lap. "When it's you, I get all serious…" She mewled and locked her ankles together at the base of his spine, hugging him tightly with her legs.

"What, you play with Chachamaru like this?"

In the middle of removing her dress, she burst into raucous laughter as he averted her gaze.

"It's the first time I'm taking you seriously, is all…" He explained. "Those other times, when I was ten—"

"—were serious."

"—hweh?"

She pushed Negi over with her hands and straddled his waist with her legs spread, exposing herself, and leaned over, their noses crossing.

"I'll remind you…"


	3. Unchained P3

The following is rated M for explicit adult situations and may not be suitable for viewers under the age of 16.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real persons or events is unintentional.

The author recommends using 1/2 story width to better enjoy the story.

* * *

**DISCLAIMER:**  
The story elements and characters  
depicted are the property of Ken  
Akamatsu and Kodansha. The  
Author claims no ownership and  
writes with authorization of ffnet.

* * *

Winter's morning breeze whipped through Evangeline's hair as they walked along. She flexed her shoulders back and yawned.

"Mmm, the sky is so clear and the moon is so bright. This is my summer~"

Negi gazed straight ahead thoughtfully. "You never answered my question, Master."

"I told you to call me by my name!" She shoved him over the side of the road with her foot.

"Where are you going to go?"

"What makes you think that's any of your concern?"

He listened to the sound of her crunching on snack foods.

"Why'd you do that, anyway?"

"Huh?" Negi looked up. "Do what?"

"Bury him?"

"Well, he lifted the Infernus Scholasticus curse before he died, so…"

Evangeline suckled on the tip of a chocolate wafer, hanging on every word.

Negi's cheeks flushed ever so slightly, and after a breath: "So, I wanted to know where you're going to be. Uh—"

"Six-hundred years…" Evangeline blushed furiously and hugged his arm, pressing her temple against his shoulder. "Six-hundred years and whelps like you are still taking me back to school… God…"

She was irritated. It was so irritating. Irritating because she meant it. Irritating because she wanted it. Irritating because she'd been there and done that and wanted to do it all again. And again. And again.

With Negi.

It wasn't the fear that she might be using him as a replacement. Nor was it fear of the possibility that he might not be around in the future. "I don't have enough confidence in myself, Negi."

"Did it make you happy?"

"Yes." She kissed his ear. "Stupid brat."

They both stopped, and Negi reached for his staff.

"A soldier fell in love with a princess. To prove his love for her, he swore to present himself beneath her balcony every night for one-hundred nights. Every night for ninety-nine nights he appeared before her without fail. But on the one-hundredth day, he didn't appear."

Evangeline kissed Negi one last time, passing an age pill between their lips.

"Can't be helped," she said in Japanese.

He floated up and away a certain distance, never taking his eyes off of her. She smirked and started to walk away, and when Evangeline looked back, Negi was already gone. The sun began to rise.

* * *

_Reality_

* * *

**Afterword/Author's Note:** I've been wanting to do this series for a _really long time_ and now I'm finally doing it! Since I'm a really unmotivated writer, it will probably take time for me to put out another release (and who knows if I'll continue this, even though I really want to...).

Anyway, if you guys are the responsive type, I'd really like to know whether you prefer staggered released or ASAP content updates. I'll post a poll on my profile but you're always welcome to leave a review!


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